Court overrules Coral Gables' pickup truck ban

August 23, 2007|By Vanessa Blum Staff Writer

A state appeals court has struck a blow for drivers of pickup trucks against Coral Gables, otherwise known as "The City Beautiful."

Lowell Kuvin, 43, got a $50 ticket in February 2003 after parking his 1993 Ford F-150 pickup truck in the driveway of his Gables rental. He was working then as a waiter at Joe's Stone Crab in Miami Beach.

Kuvin went to his brother, Palm Beach Gardens lawyer Spencer Kuvin, and contested the $50 citation. That fight resulted in 48 pages of opinions about constitutional law Wednesday from the 3rd District Court of Appeal in Miami.

"Perhaps Coral Gables can require that all its houses be made of ticky-tacky and that they all look just the same, but it cannot mandate that its people are, or do," Senior Judge Alan Schwartz wrote for the panel. The court said it was OK to ban commercial trucks from city streets overnight, but not those used as personal vehicles.

Spencer Kuvin said the truck ordinance was driven by discrimination, not aesthetics.

"It had entirely to do with the class of citizens city officials felt drove that type of vehicle," he said. "They didn't want those people in the city at night."City Attorney Elizabeth Hernandez could not be reached for comment.